Grammar For You

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An Approach to ICSE English provides a platform to contribute, discuss and comment on the various issues related to the study and practice of English for the students and teachers of ICSE syllabus. Even with its focussed nature, An Approach to ICSE English will be beneficial to everyone involved in the learning of the niceties of the English language.

Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Question 1Write a letter to the Customer Care Executive of a Book Publisher in New Delhi complaining about a book you have ordered delivered to you in damaged condition. Explain the nature of the damage and request him to replace it without further delay.Question 2

Read the following passage and answer the questions a, b, c and d that follow:A list of queries on email asks recipients to name the world’s richest man in 2008; the winner of the world’s golf title in 2007; the designer of the first rockets; the manufacturer of the first bicycle and so on? building up a roll call of achievers who left their mark on mankind. It ended with, “Who was the teacher who helped you to enjoy school and whom you remember most vividly?” I don’t know a single recipient of the email who answered a single one of the questions except the last. In other words, everyone’s most unforgettable person was a supportive and encouraging teacher whose wealth, fame and social standing mattered not at all. What the grateful student received was beyond evaluation because what the teacher gave most freely was the precious gift of the self. It was not just knowledge to pass an examination that they gave their students but an understanding of the value of knowledge itself and a love of it. Great teachers seek to form, not merely inform their students. Today, when teaching (especially teaching young children who have not learned to write) is no longer a coveted profession, I wish we could all pay a silent tribute to the many obscure men and women who shaped our lives and asked for so little in return. Surely, a good teacher deserves to be called a deva because the real meaning of the word is “the shining one”. Every year, choosing a day when it is not functioning, my cousin visits his old school. The building and compound are much the same as they were when he was a student, so the sense of stepping back into the past is powerful. He moves from classroom to classroom following the exact progression his student-graph had taken him more than half a century ago, and pays a silent tribute to each of the teachers, intensely recalling those impoverished gentlemen whose wardrobes had hardly held more than two shirts. What still moves him is the memory of the care they had taken in the lives and progress of every student, encouraging each of them and guiding every child to do his best and then some. A drop in concentration or performance led to the “master” calling on the child’s parents to enquire if there was something wrong at home which the child found disturbing or was unable to cope with; very few homes had phones in those days and even if they did, a school-teacher would certainly not have been able to afford a phone call. So, umbrella held high, he would walk those extra miles. My first teacher was a smiling and very gentle woman named Mrs. Delamose, whose name my brother and I repeated over and over again to get it right so that we might greet her correctly: “delamosedelamosedelamose”. I still recall her dark eyes, and charming crooked smile with faint streaks of lipstick out of place, as she led us through Songs the Letters Sing. She was a true teacher who believed that every single child is unique and that there is no such thing as an unintelligent child I owe my profession to her. a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: [3]1. Supportive2. Coveted3. to cope withb) Answer the questions given below in your own words.1. Who is the most unforgettable person in everyone’s life? Why?2. What do great teachers seek?3. When does the writer’s cousin visit his old school? What does he feel then?4. Describe the writer’s first teacher.5. What does a true teacher believe in?c) Summarise in 60 words the qualities that make a teacher unforgettable.d) Give a suitable title to the summary and justify the choice of the title.Question 3a) Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given after each of them, Make other changes necessary, but do not change the meaning of the sentence.1. Emily was waiting for the train. She was reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace.(Combine the two without using and or but) 2. Saroja sang well. She received the first prize. (Begin: Not only ….)3. The porter said to me “I will take your luggage to the retiring room provided you give me a good tip?” (Change the narration.)4. If Ajay gets a scholarship, his parents will be elated. (Use ‘unless’ in place of ‘if’)5. The children were spellbound by the exceptional sight of an elephant bathing. (Change the voice)6. The protesters turned violent. Immediately the police blocked the roads. (Use: No sooner….)7. The film was so dreary to me that I will not recommend it to anyone.(Use: too)8. Our football team is one of the favourites in the tournament. (Begin: Very few…..)9. Those that are hapless ought to have our sympathy. [Begin: The helpless…]10. The reason for his sudden departure is a mystery. [ Rewrite using ‘why’)b) Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions.1. Let us begin …….. the first poem.2. They do not approve……. your action in the matter.3. He is rarely attentive ….. his lessons.4. Marsha deals …… handloom saris.5. Martin’s friends stood ……him during his lean days.6. The teacher sent her a letter of appreciation …… mistake.7. The old noisy old car often goes out …… order.8. Hardy’s outlook …… life is quite optimistic.9. He agreed …… his partners on the idea of launching a new project.10. She has been suffering from Pneumonia …… last week.11. The doctor cured her …… the illness.12. The old lady prepared herself for a life …… loneliness.13. The police are looking …… the matter.14. He is not entitled …… rent and profit.15. Please, write ……ink; do not write ……pencil.Answers are given below.

Monday, 14 January 2013

Question 11. Write a letter to your uncle thanking him for the gift he gave you on your birthday. Tell him how thrilled you are with the gift and how it will be useful to you in the coming days.2. You are interested in doing a one-month course in Photography during your summer vacation. Write a letter to the Director, Institute of Mass Communication, Kolkata enquiring about the duration of the course, the terms and conditions for admission, Fee Structure and any other details you deem important.Question 2a) Rewrite the following sentences correctly according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary without changing the meaning of any sentence. 1. Sheila could not understand the reason for her sister’s offensiveness. [Use: offensive] 2. You ought to be more committed.[Begin: Use the noun form of committed]3. During her turbulent days Renee had the help of only her friend Sasha. [Begin: Apart…] 4. Reshma asked, “Are you confident that this is the procedure to secure a bank loan?” [Change into reported speech] 5. Stephen apologised earnestly but that had little impression on the teacher.[Begin: Not even …] 6. It is normal for a child to eat four times a day. [Begin: Normally]7. Amazing feats were shown by the acrobats. [Change the voice]8. Raman said, “I am never going to invite you again.” [Change the narration]9. “Where can I park my car?” she asked the policeman. [Change the narration]10. This is the hottest summer we ever had. [Use: hot]b) Fill in the blanks with the appropriate prepositions.1. Usually I go to school … foot. 2. She worked as a seamstress … ten long years. 3. There is always a requirement …. superior fabric. 4. Please contact me ….. 11 a.m. and 12.00 noon. 5. The office is closed ……1.p.m to 2.00.p.m. 6. Our school is affiliated …. the CISCE, New Delhi.7. I have tried reasoning ……. him.8. The five players quarreled …… themselves.9. We have lived in this village ………. ten years.10. My request was turned……. by the Principal.c) In the following passage fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. The flight, after …..1…. [check] all the things,….2…… [take]off. It had hardly ......3… [go] a little far, when there ….4….[be] a big blast and the airplane ……5…..[break] into pieces. All the passengers and the crew …..6……[be] killed. Later on we ……7……[come] to know that the new passenger …..8…[be] a living bomb and the remote was with the man ….9…...[stand] away from that pace. He was arrested by the police and through him the entire story…….10….. [come] to light.Question 3Read the following passage and answer the questions a, b, c and d that follow:Population explosion refers a state of affairs in which the number of people living in a country quickly surpasses its sustaining capacity. Some of the reasons for overpopulation are increasing difference between birth and death rates, social causes like child marriage and early marriage, poor family planning measures and illiteracy. Population explosion brings about social issues like unemployment, poverty, low economic development and so on. As a consequence of population explosion there comes an undue pressure on land and problems of housing, considerable food scarcity, acute unemployment, widespread illiteracy among the poor, and considerable loss in national economy. These factors result in slow or even stagnant economic growth, severe law and order disruption, Many severe social structural changes like migration to the cities and consequent emergence of slums and overburden of resources are results of population explosion. In order to counter the effects of overpopulation both the state and the individual have to cooperate and coordinate the efforts. In order to lessen population growth, some of the areas which need high priority are stress on female literacy, efficient of family planning schemes, making people aware of the detrimental effects of overpopulation on economy and standard of living, development in the quality of health and family welfare services. Considerable success to contain the growth of population can be achieved through social rallying and participation of people at all levels, giving more power to women socially disadvantaged groups as brokers of socio-economic change and development; encouraging and evolving people’s democratic institutions like Panchayati Raj, co-operatives and self-help groups.(a) Three words are given below. Give the meaning of each as used in the passage:1. surpasses2. stagnant3. counter(b) Answer these questions in your own words:1. What is population explosion?2. What are the causes of population explosion?3. What are the consequences of population explosion?4. What are the areas which need high priority to lessen overpopulation?5. What are some of the measures that can assist in containing population explosion?(c) Summarise, in not than 60 words, the passage.(d) Give a suitable title to your summary and justify the choice of the title.Answers for Grammar Questions are provided below.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Answers to this Paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.

This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.

The time given at the head of this Paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.

Attemptone question eachfrom Section A, B and C and any other two questions.You should answer five questions in all.

All the questions carry equal marks.

Section A: Drama

As You Like It: William Shakespeare

Question 1

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Celia: Ay Fare you well, fair gentleman.

Orlando: Can I not say ‘I thank you’? My better parts are all thrown down, and that which stands up is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.

Rosalind: He calls us back: my pride fell with my fortunes;

I’ll ask him what he would. Did you call, Sir? Sir, you have wrestled well, and overthrown more than your enemies.

a) How has Rosalind appreciated Orlando’s victory in the wrestling match?

b) How does Orlando respond when Celia bids him farewell?

c) Why does Orlando compare himself to a quintain?

d) Explain:

1. My better parts are all thrown down

2. my pride fell with my fortunes

e) Elaborate how Orlando has overthrown more than his enemies.

Question 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Duke Senior: But what said Jaques? Did

He not moralise this spectacle?

First Lord: O, yes, into a thousand similes.

First for his weeping into the needless stream;

‘Poor deer’ quoth he, ‘thou makest a testament

As worldlings do, giving thy sum of more

To that which had too much: then, being there alone,

Left and abandon’d of his velvet friend,

‘T’ is right,’ quoth he, ‘thus misery doth part

The flux of company’.

a) On what does Jaques moralise? Who is weeping? What is meant by needless stream?

b) What moral does Jaques draw from the deer’s weeping into the stream?

c) Explain:

1. velvet friend

2. thus misery doth part /The flux of company

d) According to Jaques, What grave injustice is done by the Duke and his men in the forest?

e) What do you understand of Jaques character from this episode?

Section B: Poetry

The Golden Lyre

Question 3

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Since then- ‘tis centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horse’s heads

Were toward Eternity-

a) From where does the speaker speak these lines? What has happened in the past?

b) When did the poet first see the horse’s head? What happened then?

c) Describe the journey of the poet by the carriage. Explain its symbolic significance.

d) What message does the poet want to convey through the poem.

e) What is the conflict inherent in the poem?

Question 4

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

I remember the night my mother

was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours

of steady rain had driven him

to crawl beneath a sack of rice

Parting with his poison-flash of diabolic tail in the dark room-

He risked the rain again.

a) Why had the scorpion taken refuge under the sack of rice?

b) What happened to the mother? How?

c) Explain: flash of diabolic tail in the dark room

d) What are the different ideas through which the villagers try to console the mother?

e) Comment on the conclusion of the poem.

Section C: Prose

A Treasure Trove of Short Stories

Question 5

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Just then a man came up to us. He was a small man and he was pretty old, probably seventy or, more. He raised his hat politely and said to my mother, ‘Excuse me. I do hope you will excuse me…… “He had a fine white moustache and bushy white eyebrows and a wrinkly pink face. He was sheltering under an umbrella which he held high over his head.

a) Who does ‘us’ refer to? Where are they? What did the ‘small man’ have which they badly needed?

b) Describe the “small old man”.

c) What was the mother’s immediate reaction to the nice old man? What was the basis of such a reaction?

d) Why, in your opinion did the old man approach them?

e) What do you learn from the short story? Elaborate.

Question 6

Describe briefly the struggle between the tiger and Baldeo. What impression do you form of Baldeo’s character?